With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, Al Ittihad host Navbahor in the second leg of their AFC Champions League tie on Thursday at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Last week, these two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Uzbekistan, the first-ever knockout fixture for Navbahor in this competition.
Match preview
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It was not the most exciting opening leg last Thursday as Al Ittihad failed to take advantage of all their possession (64%), registering just one effort on target and failing to score in this competition for only the second time.
Marcelo Gallardo will likely see it as a missed opportunity, though he has to be encouraged by their recent defensive form, without a goal conceded in their previous four competitive games.
The reigning Saudi Pro League champions have a 100% home record in the Champions League this season, outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of 6-1 in those three contests.
Nadi Al-Watan have never been knocked out of a round of 16 tie in this competition and never lost a game at this stage of any previous Champions League campaign.
Al Ittihad have only been knocked out of their opening Champions League knockout phase tie once, losing their second leg encounter against Al-Karamah SC, 4-0 in 2006 after winning the first game 2-0, when the knockout stage began at the quarter-finals.
They have never lost a home outing at this tournament versus a side from Uzbekistan, defeating Pakhtakor Tashkent 4-0 at King Abdullah Sports City in the second leg of their 2009 quarter-final tie, the only previous time that Al Ittihad faced a team from that region in the knockout portion of this tournament.
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Their strategy of hanging back and frustrating the opposition worked last week as Navbahor claimed their first clean sheet at home in this competition since matchday two (2-0 win over Mumbai City).
Samvel Babayan will be encouraged by the recent results his side have earned away from home, going unbeaten as the visitors to this point of the competition, including victories in their final two group outings outside Uzbekistan.
Since suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Al-Hilal on matchday six, Navbahor have not lost, though they failed to find the back of the net last Thursday for the first time since late November.
It has been well over two years since this side last suffered a defeat over 90 minutes when netting multiple times, losing 3-2 at home to Kokand 1912 in a November 2021 domestic affair.
The club from Namangan have not been knocked out of a round of 16 tie since losing out at this stage versus Neftchi in the 2016-17 Uzbekistan Cup.
While they are still seeking their first Champions League triumph versus a Saudi Arabian side, Navbahor have never lost an away fixture against a club from the Saudi Pro League this century, conceding an equaliser at Al-Hilal in the 10th minute of stoppage time in the group portion of this tournament.
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Team News
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Karim Benzema was dropped yet again for Al Ittihad in the opening leg and has not featured all year for the Saudis, while Ahmed Bamsaud, Ahmed Sharahili and Abdullah Al-Jadaani are all dealing with cruciate ligament tears.
Luiz Felipe is unlikely to feature due to a muscle tear, while Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti could return near the end of the month after previously sustaining an unknown injury.
Abdullah Al-Mayouf only had to make one stop in the opening leg to pick up a clean sheet, while he was also between the sticks domestically this weekend when Abderrazak Hamdallah notched a brace in a 2-0 victory over Al-Riyadh.
We saw four new faces in the Navbahor starting 11 in the first leg last week who were not in the opening lineup on matchday six, with Filip Ivanovic, Farrukh Sayfiev, Odiljon Hamrobekov and Asadbek Sobirjonov replacing Luka Cermelj, Milos Milovic, Azim Ahmedov and Abror Ismoilov.
Utkir Yusupov only had to make one stop to collect a clean sheet in the opening leg of this tie last Thursday, his second of the tournament.
Since netting in their final group fixture versus Mumbai City (2-1 win), Jamshid Iskanderov and Jovan Dokic have not found the back of the net in any competitive fixture.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Al-Mayouf; Al-Sqoor, Hegazi, Kadesh, Al-Olayan; Kante, Fabinho, Al-Ghamdi; Romarinho, Hamdallah, Al-Amri
Navbahor possible starting lineup:
Yusupov; Boltaboev, Ivanovic, Dokic, Sayfiev; Ismoilov, Hamrobekov; Sobirzhonov, Iskanderov, Jiyanov; Tabatadze
We say: Al Ittihad 1-0 Navbahor (Al Ittihad win 1-0 on aggregate)
Although Navbahor showed a lot of discipline in the opening leg, we expect the Saudis to be the aggressors throughout this match and eventually find a breakthrough, though it should be a close game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
